Queen expected to recover from chest infection in time for Gladiator II premiere

The Queen is set to attend the glitzy global premiere of Gladiator II next week despite falling ill with a chest infection.

Buckingham Palace announced the King and Camilla will meet the stars of the blockbuster, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and Pedro Pascal, and director Sir Ridley Scott.

The royal couple will settle down to watch the screening of the highly-anticipated sequel at the Royal Film Performance in London’s Leicester Square next Wednesday evening.

Camilla, 77, who this week was forced to pull out of engagements after catching a seasonal illness, will also join Charles as they host a special reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the UK’s television and film industry earlier in the day.

The King and Queen will welcome guests including directors, actors, TV presenters, stunt performers and costume designers.

On show in the royal residence will be a number of costumes and props from films such as Titanic and Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, as well as the late Dame Maggie Smith’s costume from the 1982 film Evil Under The Sun.

Dame Maggie died in September at the age of 89.

The reception will mark the centenary of the Film and TV Charity, of which Charles is patron.

The events are taking place on the eve of the King’s birthday, with Charles turning 76 next Thursday.

The Palace announced on Tuesday that Camilla, who recently returned from a busy long-haul tour to Australia and Samoa and a luxury spa break in India, was unwell with a chest infection.

She will miss the opening of the Field of Remembrance and a reception for Olympic and Paralympic athletes on Thursday while she recovers.

Next week’s newly announced engagements for Camilla, which also include a Booker Prize reception at Clarence House on Tuesday, will raise hopes she can attend this weekend’s Remembrance events.

The Queen, who is resting at her Wiltshire home Ray Mill, is hoping to be able to go to the annual Festival of Remembrance on Saturday evening at the Royal Albert Hall, and the poignant national Remembrance service at the Cenotaph on Whitehall on Sunday.

Gladiator II is set years after the 2000 historical smash hit Gladiator which starred Russell Crowe as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who ends up in slavery after the murder of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

The new film vows to continue “the epic saga of power, intrigue and vengeance set in Ancient Rome”.